Abstract: What is Data Art? Can a spreadsheet be transformed into a beautiful, emotional visualization able to communicate knowledge/information more deeply than either the dry spreadsheet, or the traditional charts we use on a daily basis? What additional insight can these complex visualizations provide? Inspired by data visualization and creative coding, we will discuss their main differences as we dwell on interesting (and entertaining) data science research projects such as biodiversity, the strength of collaboration, the Montreux Jazz Festival, Wikipedia and the Star Wars expanded universe.
This seminar will show that Data Art can be used as a new communication medium to tell impactful insightful stories and analyses by connecting scientific rigor with creativity.
Bio: Kirell Benzi is a creative data scientist. He holds a Ph.D. in Data Science from EFPL (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) where he teaches data visualization.
In 2017, he founded his data art studio Kirelion. In 2019, the studio's activities were transferred to the Ekino group in Paris, where his job consists in bridging the gap between research and industry using cutting-edge data experiences.
His work has been shown in museums (ArtLab, Swiss National Museum), newspapers and magazines (La Recherche, 20minutes, Le Temps) and on over 100 websites in 10 languages (including Gizmodo, Engadget, Daily Mail, The MarketPlace, TechRadar, Co.Design, Phys.org, VICE or Digital Trends) for his analysis of the Star Wars universe as well as for his interactive visualisations of the data surrounding the viral Pokemon Go phenomenon. In 2018, he gave a keynote at a TEDx symposium in Annecy, France.
Those unable to attend can stream the lecture from Twitter and our YouTube page